Friday Afternoon Commute - Squirrels

So the bicycle stops aren't harassment of cyclists (Yea!) but Shani Hilton argues at City Paper that they're racial profiling (darn). Update: Not racist, just confusing.

Photos from the Capital Bikeshare Birthday Bash. I'm glad I didn't go because this person is wearing the exact same outfit I was planning to wear.

Rand Paul criticizes Transportation Enhancements for their funding of bike trails, "turtle tunnels" and "Squirrel sanctuaries". If he thinks the program is a waste, well he's entitled to his opinion. But he needs to be clear that what is set aside is 10% of the Surface Transportation Program, which is only part of transportation funding. The "squirrel sanctuary" project, by the way, paid to protect rare albino squirrels from highway traffic "Some projects under other categories of TEs have had direct benefits for biodiversity. One example is the White Squirrel Sanctuary in Tennessee, which was at least partially created to prevent traffic-related mortality by a highway dividing the squirrels’ territory." So that counters a negative externality of roads and driving. RAND PAUL HATES WILDLIFE, WISHES IT DEAD!